Neil Lennon will have to bide his time a little longer to discover if Joe
Ledley will accept his offer to become part of next season’s new-look
Parkhead squad.

Lennon should be confirmed as the successor to Tony Mowbray later this week after a process which has been prolonged by the need to settle the former manager’s severance package and the Parkhead board’s desire to parade the Northern Irishman in tandem with one or more attractive signings.

This is seen as one way to refresh the appetite of season-ticket holders whose disenchantment with the fare on offer last season was such that by the later stages of the campaign most of them did not occupy the seats for which they had already paid.

Ledley, who has also aroused the interest of Everton, West Ham, Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Rangers, has promised a swift decision once he considers the offer made by Roma, with whom he discussed prospective terms on Tuesday.

Ledley’s allure has been increased because he will soon be out of contract with Cardiff City and because cross-border transfer fees mean that Celtic would not be obliged to pay the Welsh club compensation.

Ledley’s name is the latest to be connected with Lennon as the manager-in-waiting attempts to put flesh on his dream of a combative but skilful team capable of wresting the Scottish title back from Rangers and competing at a decent level in Europe once again.

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Jimmy Bullard of Hull City, Stoke City’s Liam Lawrence and Sol Campbell of Arsenal have all been identified as possible signings, with Craig Bellamy added to the list after the Welsh midfield player revealed that he would rather leave Manchester City if he is not in the main plans for next season. Bellamy had a loan spell with Celtic in Martin O’Neill’s final season in 2005 and was a favourite with the Hoops support.

He has already indicated that, for family reasons, his most likely destination is Cardiff, but Lennon is known to want at least one marquee signing around whom to build a side and to animate the fans, in the way that Robbie Keane did last season.

Elsewhere, St Mirren took another step towards appointing a successor to Gus McPherson, who kept the club in the Scottish Premier League yet again but found his services no longer wanted at the end of the season. The Paisley directors met to formulate their shortlist and it is expected that the new manager will be announced early next week.

The Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee has been confounded in his attempt to sign Kevin Kyle. The

28-year-old forward is out of contract with Kilmarnock and talked to McGhee at the end of the season about a switch to Pittodrie but the Aberdeen manager admitted that the club cannot match the wages Kyle can command elsewhere.

McGhee said: “We have given up on Kyle and are now looking elsewhere as the player is out of our reach.

''Jimmy Calderwood has left Kilmarnock due to budget restraints. Kyle was his player and he couldn’t keep him. We are equally frustrated we cannot bring him here.”

Calderwood, who parted company with Kilmarnock at the weekend – as exclusively revealed by Telegraph Sport on May 10 – said last night that it would have been close to impossible for him to have fulfilled his desire to take the Ayrshire club into the top six of the SPL on the budget he was offered. Kilmarnock had the division’s seventh highest budget for transfers and wages last season but finished 11th in the table and only avoided relegation with a nerve-shredding goalless draw at home to Falkirk on the final day of the campaign.

“We had begun to search for players who might have been able to give us something extra next season, using my English and Dutch contacts and they wouldn’t have been expensive but, to be honest, there was no way the budget we were offered would have given us the fighting chance we needed of getting into the top half of the table,” said Calderwood.

“I always said that I would be willing to stay if there was the sort of money that would let us take the club forward but that didn’t happen. I do admit I didn’t think I would have been out of work as long as I was after I quit Aberdeen last year and I certainly hope that doesn’t happen again.”

St Johnstone have appointed Grant Cullen to the role of general manager. The move comes after Stewart Duff stepped down as managing director after 23 years of service at the Perth club.

Cullen, 47, said that football would provide a fresh challenge after a 25-year career in the hospitality trade. “I have always followed football so I know it’s different from most businesses and there is a profile and expectation associated with the post, from both supporters and customers. “I’m determined to hit the ground running and get myself out and about locally.”

Saints vice-chairman Steve Brown added: “We had more than 70 applicants for the position and there were many excellent candidates. In all, the process took six weeks, but we believe we have the right man.’’